According to Dr. Jason Newland, a pediatric infectious diseases physician for Washington University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, it is. And he thinks it may not be the first time we’ve seen pros with the virus.

“I would argue that there have probably been other athletes who had it and it wasn’t as severe,” he told For The Win on Wednesday afternoon. “We do know in certain years, there will be really bad cases of hand, foot and mouth.”

In other words, maybe some athletes have ended up with the disease but it was simply reported as an “illness” and nothing more. Newland hadn’t heard of anyone being put on the DL like Syndergaard (it doesn’t necessarily take 10 days to recover) but that could have been a way to keep him away from his teammates and on the mend.

So why are two Major Leaguers coming down with the virus?

Dr. Newland surmised they contracted it from kids. That’s likely the case for Syndergaard, who worked at a children’s camp during the All-Star break and — after the incubation period — had symptoms pop up.

As for Happ? Yankees general manager Brian Cashman wondered if the pitcher he traded for caught it from his flight to New York, but Newland said it’s more likely it’s from contact with someone who might carry it on his or her hands or body, and he thinks Happ could have gotten it from his young son, J.J.

It’s also the time of year — late summer and early fall — that Newland sees more cases of HFM, which can cause fever and spots on hands, feet and inside the mouth. Those sores can also be painful.

“We shed it from our respiratory secretions, our mouths or from stool,” he explained. “You pick it up on your hands. People don’t wash their hands well, and that’s why you see it in kids. Their hygiene isn’t very good.”

The solution to preventing HFM? Wash your hands — thoroughly — and make sure your little ones do too. That apparently includes you, Major Leaguers.

How two MLB stars may have contracted hand, foot and mouth disease, according to a doctor

We spoke to a pediatric infectious diseases doctor to figure out why Noah Syndergaard and J.A. Happ got the virus.

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